World

Town is shocked to find Magna Carta copy worth $15 million in a scrapbook

The newly discovered version of the Magna Carta looks like it's in worse shape than this one: the Salisbury Magna Carta, one of the four original surviving Magna Carta manuscripts that have been brought together by the British Library.

Even though a third of the document is missing and it's ripped, the edition is still estimated to be worth up to £10 million ($15 million).

The Magna Carta or Great Charter is a document from 1215 that was signed between King John and rebel barons. It was the first document that stated that everyone, including the king, was subject to the law.

The newly discovered copy, which is dated 1300, was found at the Kent History and Library Centre by Dr Mark Bateson, a community history officer, according to Kent Online. However, it originally belonged to the town of Sandwich.

"It must have been much more widely distributed than previously thought because if Sandwich had one ... the chances are it went out to a lot of other towns," said Professor Nicolas Vincent of the University of East Anglia, who authenticated the document.

“And it is very likely that there are one or two out there somewhere that no one has spotted yet.”

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